[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 19638-19644]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                DISASTER TORNADOES AND FLOODING IN IOWA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 18, 2007, the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Braley) is recognized 
for 60 minutes.
  Mr. BRALEY of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to address a major 
tragedy that occurred earlier this year.
  In May and June, Iowans suffered unprecedented tornadoes and 
flooding, which has directly impacted the lives of hundreds of 
thousands of Iowans. The magnitude of this disaster places it in the 
top dozen or so all-time natural disasters, and the amount of damage in 
this State is unparalleled.
  Along with my staff and other members of the Iowa delegation, I've 
worked tirelessly to provide assistance in every way possible to 
impacted Iowans, from helping to remove debris in Parkersburg, to 
filling sandbags in Waterloo, to working to pass a $2.65 billion 
supplemental disaster relief bill, to holding this administration 
accountable for its promises, to bringing Speaker Pelosi to the First 
District last week.
  I want to thank the Speaker for visiting Iowa's First District, and I 
appreciate her strong words of support as we struggle to recover from 
these disasters.
  While I'm proud of the efforts so far to pass the initial $2.65 
billion in disaster relief, there is still much work to be done. Most 
notably, the Bush administration needs to release these congressionally 
passed funds as quickly as possible, and administration bureaucrats 
must stop dragging their feet while Iowans wait for needed assistance.
  Secondly, this Congress must pass another round of disaster relief as 
the first round of $2.65 billion will fall far short of meeting the 
needs of the Midwest following these multiple tragedies.
  On June 13, while I was at the Cedar Rapids Airport during the peak 
flooding, White House Budget Director Jim Nussle told me that FEMA had 
nearly $5 billion for Federal disaster programs that would be available 
to meet the needs of Iowans. Since that meeting, Congress has passed 
another $897 million more in FEMA funding. Yet FEMA has only recently 
passed the $500 million in assistance to Iowa while at the

[[Page 19639]]

same time denying many claims in Iowa for assistance.
  It's time for our President to move Iowa's money out of the hands of 
bureaucrats and into the hands of needy Iowans. This is not the only 
piece of the $2.65 billion package that sits on the desks of Federal 
bureaucrats. There is $52 million in economic development 
administration funding of which Iowa is eligible that the 
administration is holding onto for another 2 months.
  In addition, I've been urging HUD to release $300 million in 
Community Development Block Grants for months now, and that money still 
sits in the hands of administration bureaucrats.
  In addition, I have personally invited President Bush to come to the 
First District, which, so far, he has refused to do. However, the 
President's physical absence from the First District is not his only 
neglect of the needs of Iowa citizens. We have yet to receive a budget 
request from the President to Congress outlining what he believes the 
funding legislation to meet these disaster needs in Iowa and in other 
Midwestern States should look like.
  I have made my funding priorities clear. My Iowa and Midwestern 
colleagues have done the same. Where is the President's request? 
Actually, I can tell you the President's current budget request for 
Iowa disaster relief. Zero dollars. While I feel the administration has 
acted poorly in responding to Iowa disasters, I also do not let 
Congress off the hook.
  The initial $2.65 billion package, while welcomed, is clearly not 
enough to meet the needs of Iowa residents and business owners. That's 
why I am committed to ensuring that Congress passes additional disaster 
relief for Iowa as soon as possible. I look forward to Congress passing 
additional disaster relief and to seeing this money reach Iowans in 
need. Only then can we achieve the victory of recovery.
  I would like to thank Speaker  Nancy Pelosi for spending last Monday 
in Iowa in the First District, in the Second District and in the Third 
District, witnessing firsthand the devastation that has occurred, 
meeting and talking to Iowans in need, and hearing their stories. I'm 
going to be sharing tonight some of those stories from residents and 
business owners in the First District of Iowa, showing the American 
public exactly what has been going on and why this need is so great and 
why it needs to be met.
  There is no better time to have this discussion than in the wake of 
what has been going on down in the Gulf Coast, in the aftermaths of 
Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike, where the needs are also great.
  I hope that my colleagues in the House and that people around the 
country who appreciate the needs of responding to emergency disasters 
like this will start to gain a deeper appreciation of why this funding 
is so necessary and why it's so urgent and will wake up Congress and 
the American people to the fact that more aid is needed to meet the 
needs of people in distress.
  Iowa's needs are vast: from helping displaced residents find quality 
temporary and permanent housing, to repairing critical infrastructure--
we'll see some examples of that--to things like roads, bridges and 
railroads, to helping small businesses, farmers and local economies get 
back on track, to rebuilding clinics, libraries and schools like the 
Aplington-Parkersburg High School and the Waverly-Shell Rock schools, 
to fixing wastewater treatment facilities in towns like Elkader, 
Evansdale, Anamosa, and Clermont, to helping towns like Buffalo, 
Davenport and Waterloo make sewer improvements and prepare for future 
flooding events.
  Along with the other members of the Iowa delegation, I pledge to 
continue fighting to help Iowa recover until every home is rebuilt, 
until every school is reopened and until every small business has its 
shelves stocked.
  To give you some idea of what type of double disaster we've been 
dealing with in the State of Iowa, I want to start by showing this wall 
cloud that contains an EF-5 tornado, the most powerful tornado that's 
classified under the system.
  This tornado started on the west edge of Parkersburg, Iowa on May 25, 
the day before Memorial Day, a day that I will never forget because it 
happened to be the day of my son's high school graduation-open house. 
When that day started, our biggest concern was what we were going to do 
if it rained that day. As everybody was leaving our home and as they 
were heading back to their own homes and as we were getting everything 
picked up and put away, the news on television caught my attention as 
that day this disaster started to unfold in the fields of Butler County 
in the northwest corner of the First District of Iowa.
  As this tornado gained momentum and started to enter the town of 
Parkersburg, it cut a path of devastation from Parkersburg to New 
Hartford to the town of Dunkerton and on to Hazleton before it went off 
and split into two separate tornadoes. The devastation in the wake of 
this tornado was almost impossible to comprehend if you didn't see it 
with your own eyes.
  This overhead shot shows the south half of Parkersburg that was 
literally obliterated and wiped off the face of the Earth. You can see 
the high school track and the high school next to it, which was 
completely destroyed.
  The people in Parkersburg are very proud of the fact that, along with 
their sister community of Aplington, their high school football team at 
Aplington-Parkersburg has four players who are starters in the National 
Football League from a town of less than 2,000 people. They're very 
proud of their community, and that pride was evident this year when 
they held their very first football game on this field with no high 
school while the students had been temporarily relocated to Aplington, 
to the middle school. This game and the significance of that game to 
this community was so great that the game with West Marshall and 
Aplington-Parkersburg was covered by ESPN, CBS, ABC, and it was the 
subject of intense national sports coverage.
  You can see that the entire business corridor along the highway south 
of Parkersburg was wiped out. One of my neighbors, Dan Summerhayes, was 
on his way through Parkersburg on that highway while on his way to 
another graduation-open house in the town of Ackley, which is west of 
Parkersburg. As he saw this tornado approaching, he turned his pickup 
around and drove back to Parkersburg, to the Pizza Ranch which is out 
on the southwest corner of Parkersburg.
  He parked his truck, and ran into the Pizza Ranch as other people 
were starting to seek shelter in the men's bathroom. As he pulled the 
door shut, he saw his pickup fly by outside in the tornado, and 13 
people huddled inside that bathroom as another vehicle landed on the 
roof of the Pizza Ranch, and the whole structure collapsed on top of 
them. Miraculously, all 13 crawled through the rubble, and their lives 
were saved, but other residents in Parkersburg were not that fortunate.
  Six people died in this tornado, and two more died near New Hartford. 
There were many other stories of heroic acts that took place and of 
people whose lives were saved. At one of the homes of the people we 
visited the day after the tornado, the person was standing right on top 
of the foundation of what was left of his home.
  The owner of this house turned to me and to the Governor and to 
Senator Grassley and to Senator Harkin and said, ``I don't want to ever 
hear anybody complain about those warnings on TV, because they saved my 
life.''
  There was a bank that was completely obliterated along this same 
highway, and all that was left after the tornado was the vault where 
the bank had its valuables stored, and everything else was destroyed.
  This shows you the extent of the devastation of so many of the homes 
near Parkersburg. The power of this tornado was so severe and the 
carriage of objects went so far that objects that were originally from 
homes in and around Parkersburg showed up in Prairie du Chien, 
Wisconsin, which is over 100 miles to the east of where Parkersburg is 
located.
  Many people came from all over the State and from all over the 
country to

[[Page 19640]]

help out the citizens of Parkersburg. I took my chain saw up to help 
cut down some of the trees that had been destroyed in and around the 
homes.
  This photograph shows you the extent of the devastation all 
throughout the community. This was a couple who had lost everything 
that they owned. As we picked up the debris in their basement, I kept 
holding up items and saying, ``Do you want to save this?'' They would 
look at me and say, ``This isn't ours.'' That was going on all over the 
city of Parkersburg.
  In addition, the town of Lamont escaped the damage from the tornado, 
but it had 8 inches of rain in a short period of time on the front edge 
of these storms. You can see the terrible damage that occurred to 
bridges and to roads and to streets and to other public improvements in 
the town of Lamont, which also got 4 inches of rain that same week for 
a total of 12 inches, which had an enormous impact on the homes and 
businesses in the town of Lamont.

                              {time}  2015

  And if things weren't bad enough from the tornado, less than 10 days 
later Iowa had the historic flooding that was greater than any other in 
modern history. In between the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers, 
which frame the east and west coasts of Iowa, are nine inland rivers, 
all of which were out of their banks at record levels during this peak 
flooding.
  The town of New Hartford, which was hit by the tornado, was 
completely submerged in the wake of this flooding event. This 
photograph shows you some of the businesses downtown.
  One of the tragedies of a disaster like this is the businesses that 
make a community a community, like the hardware store, the convenience 
store, have left the City of New Hartford and aren't planning to 
return, and those losses have an enormous impact on the quality of life 
in those communities and are one of the principal reasons why it is so 
important to get Federal disaster money released into these communities 
as soon as possible, to give them a chance to retain businesses and 
rebuild before they lose their population base and lose their tax base.
  One of the most beautiful communities in my district is Elkader, 
along the Turkey River in Clayton County, and this photograph 
illustrates the enormous damage from the flood that occurred in June in 
Elkader.
  One of the things you can see is the downtown area, the beautiful 
Catholic Church, the grain elevator. Elkader was devastated because the 
only grocery store that serves this town was completely wiped out in 
the flooding. One of the banks down here in the business community had 
water up over the top of the counters. And when you have your critical 
businesses lost in a community like this, there is no place else for 
residents to go to meet their basic needs. In addition, there was major 
damage to athletic facilities and high school facilities that provide 
all of the quality-of-life services to that community that will take 
years to recover.
  The town of Waverly, which is north of Waterloo, where I live, also 
had record flooding along the Cedar River. You can see the devastation 
to the downtown, to the businesses that are still struggling to come 
back. Many residents were displaced from their homes. One of the grade 
schools still isn't open yet because of the widespread flooding damage. 
And this is just one example of many, many communities in the First 
District of Iowa that had similar flooding events of historic 
proportion.
  This photograph in downtown Waverly is a good example of the impact 
on infrastructure that these flooding events had had. Here you see a 
collapsed asphalt road surface. The sidewalk is completely collapsed. 
There are damages to the businesses that will take many, many months, 
if not years, to restore.
  Downstream on the Cedar River is the City of Cedar Falls, which is 
home to the University of Northern Iowa. This is a utility plant, Cedar 
Falls Utility, that provides most of the power to the City of Cedar 
Falls and has sustained millions of dollars of damages to its power 
plant, which serves the basic needs of the community and will take 
months and months to bounce back.
  We were talking about infrastructure needs. This is a railroad bridge 
in downtown Waterloo. I spent one night back in Waterloo sandbagging in 
the downtown area to shore up levees that had been built in the mid-
sixties during another record flood event.
  Waterloo is fortunate in that much of the downtown was protected from 
massive flooding because the levees held, but because of the immense 
pressure on the storm sewer system, there was back flooding in the 
downtown area that caused major devastation to businesses downtown, 
including the Dan Gable International Wrestling Museum in downtown 
Waterloo, the Happy Chef next to Young Arena where the hockey teams 
play, and many, many other downtown businesses. These type of 
infrastructure needs are critical to the local economy.
  One of the major employers in my district is Deere and Company, which 
has a number of factories in Waterloo and Cedar Falls and an industrial 
equipment factory in Dubuque and another operation in Davenport and its 
world headquarters in Moline on the opposite side of the Mississippi 
River from downtown Davenport.
  Many of the products manufactured at the Waterloo tractor facility 
are shipped out across this rail line, so there are enormous added 
shipping expenses, not just to John Deere, but to many, many other 
businesses and farmers who utilize this railroad to ship their commerce 
across this country and around the world. That is why the needs are so 
great.
  I want to share now some of the testimonials from citizens and 
constituents of mine who are going to put a human face on the extent of 
the devastation that I am talking about and hopefully give greater 
importance to the cause of coming to the floor next week and bringing a 
disaster bill that will address these acute needs.
  This is from Lorrie Martin in New Hartford, Iowa, which had the 
double whammy of both the largest tornado to hit the country this year 
and record flooding.
  ``We are the face of disaster. On May 25th, our home in new Hartford, 
Iowa, was damaged by an EF-5 tornado. I was in the Mayo Clinic in 
Rochester with my son, Zak, who is 21 and had just been diagnosed with 
cancer. We returned home on June 7th, and on the morning of June 8th 
the flood destroyed our home and all of our possessions. We walked out 
with a purse and cell phone for me and a hat and book for Zak.
  ``For three months we have been staying in a gutted-out two room 
house in Dike, Iowa, sleeping on mattresses on the floor, with no 
kitchen or bath facilities. 4,200 hundred families raced to grab a few 
cheap rentals, while over 300 FEMA officials lived high on the hog in 
all available hotel rooms. There are two families living in an 
abandoned hardware store in Dike.
  ``We thought our government would be our salvation, but in fact it 
has almost been the death of us. I have now been diagnosed with an 
autoimmune disease with precursors for cancer from stress.
  ``FEMA has been a roadblock, making empty promises, placing us in 
harm's way and causing us to lose hope. They lost my paperwork twice 
and I had to fax my documents to them repeatedly. I called over and 
over again, and they finally admitted their scanning system was 2 weeks 
backlogged.
  ``This is outrageous, and the system needs to be overhauled. We are 
suffering crushing depression, extreme anxiety and we can't sleep. If 
anyone tells you they don't contemplate suicide after a disaster like 
this, they are lying.
  ``We have lost our dignity and have begged at charities, churches and 
the Red Cross. The Red Cross spent tens of thousands of dollars flying 
in representatives from other States. This money should have come to 
disaster victims directly. Everyone we talked to has gotten amounts 
from $80 to $800, with no logic to the amount.
  ``There needs to be a central location for all the aid that stays in 
place until

[[Page 19641]]

the last person is helped. Truckloads of supplies have come in 
earmarked for New Hartford, but were rerouted. Federal, State, county 
and city government officials should sleep in the trenches with us 
until resolution. They can use their Blackberries and laptops to 
correspond with their offices and families.
  ``I am but one person, living a life no longer worth living. I am 
bitter toward my elected officials. I hope they enjoyed their vacation 
while we fought to survive. I do not have faith that there will be 
change, but I have hope that you will listen.''
  This is from the Mayor of Green, Iowa, another community that lost 
its grocery store, its post office, and many of its key downtown 
businesses in record flooding.
  ``The June 2008 flooding has had a huge impact on our small 
community. Luckily, we are in Butler County, the same county that had 
the devastating tornado that hit Parkersburg only 2 weeks earlier. This 
meant we could get immediate help from FEMA, as a disaster declaration 
was already in place.
  ``That being said, one of our biggest problems that we will have is a 
huge impact in our community that FEMA will deduct from our claims 
anything that should have carried flood insurance. We did not realize 
that we were required to carry flood insurance on our properties. We 
have never filed a FEMA claim on any buildings before. We have 
employees that have worked here for 30 years, and no one was aware of 
this requirement. Needless to say, this will greatly decrease any 
claims we have, making it almost impossible for some of the repairs 
that are necessary.
  ``We had equipment at a waste water lift station that was destroyed. 
If the equipment had been outside, it would have been uninsurable, 
making it eligible for a FEMA claim. But since we chose to put the 
equipment in a building, thinking we were making a reasonable choice, 
it was considered uninsurable and we are losing thousands of dollars on 
this claim just because we tried to take care of this equipment in the 
first place. We have never had a flood of this magnitude, and many 
situations are different than ever before.
  ``Another big concern of ours is the availability of help for our 
local small business owners. Some of our business owners lost their 
homes and their businesses. We are a small community that is very 
independent, yet very dependent on our local businesses. We are still 
without our one and only grocery store, our Post Office, which 
fortunately just reopened this week, and a convenience store. The added 
expense to residents to get their mail and groceries out of town is a 
hardship to many senior citizens and families.
  ``Some of our businesses just moved back into their original 
locations, but just as many are still operating out of other locations. 
How are these people supposed to recoup from such devastation without 
some sort of help from somewhere? If these were corporations, there 
would be funds available, tax breaks or some sort of assistance. More 
than likely, farmers would receive some sort of disaster payments. But 
our small businesses are ineligible for anything other than a loan. 
Most of these businesses are, for the most part, surviving day-to-day 
the way it is, without the added burdens of flood expenses and no 
relief of any kind from anywhere.
  ``On a personal note, being one of the first communities that 
experienced flooding in our State, we really felt like we were ignored 
by some of our local officials. We hadn't been through anything quite 
so serious, and we appreciate the help that we received.''
  This is a letter from Tom Poe, who is the president of Crystal 
Distribution Services in Waterloo, Iowa, which had facilities in the 
old Rath Packing Company located right along the banks of the Cedar 
River in downtown Waterloo near the railroad bridge that collapsed that 
I showed you earlier.
  ``During the week of June 9th, 2008, I, along with all 55 of my 
employees, watched anxiously as the Cedar River level rose due to the 
extremely harsh winter, coupled with massive rains in the spring. 
Crystal Distribution is located adjacent to the Cedar River on the 
former Rath Packing plant site.
  ``When Rath closed, we made a substantial investment in renovating 
the former meat plant's buildings into our refrigerated warehouse 
operation in this Brownfield area of Waterloo. As the week began, it 
appeared that the flood levee would hold and we would be spared a 
colossal flooding disaster. Unfortunately, during the morning of June 
11th and the morning of June 12th we received a major storm that 
dropped an additional 3 inches of rain onto an already swollen system 
and water table.
  ``At this time, water began to back up into our lower level of our 
refrigerated warehouse. As we did everything possible to minimize the 
effects of the backup, we couldn't keep up with the intake of water, 
and before long were unable to mitigate further damage to the 100,000 
square feet of refrigerated warehouse space. The entire lower level was 
full of retail ham, bacon and other boxed meat products. As the water 
level rose to over 4 feet, it was obvious that the vast majority, if 
not all of the product, would be unsalvageable.
  ``We immediately contacted our USDA compliance agents and they were 
soon on the site. At that point, each affected customer, there were 10 
in all, were contacted, and they all inspected their product and 
determined that, for food safety reasons, the meat needed to be taken 
to the landfill. The total loss amounted to over 3.5 million pounds of 
product. We immediately began the process of disposal and cleanup. 
Crystal paid up front for the landfill, trucking and building 
renovations to facilitate the disposal, along with many other costs, 
which were over $250,000 in direct expense to us.
  ``Crystal immediately applied with FEMA and received an SBA loan 
application number. I worked with my accountant, attorney and banker to 
complete the rather lengthy application. After several weeks, I was 
told that the SBA may be able to offer a $279,000 3-year loan at 8 
percent. We were hoping for something more favorable that would be able 
to help us replace the lost space, not to mention the loss of revenue 
to date since this event and the lost product value for our customers, 
some of which held no insurance coverage.

                              {time}  2030

  ``We are still in limbo between our customers, insurance company and 
local, State and Federal agencies, with no real input as to how this 
will all turn out.
  ``Our first choice would be to rebuild and grow on this site, but we 
do not dare to do anything until we have direction as to what will 
happen to the existing storm sewer, river gates and city pumps in this 
area. I, along with most Iowans, are not accustomed to having to ask 
for help, and we certainly don't like to be in a position of having to 
do so.
  ``However, due to this enormous, natural disaster, my livelihood and 
the livelihood of all my employees depends on our ability to bounce 
back quickly and to be able to put this event behind us.
  ``My frustration lies with the fact that after 3 months we have not 
heard anything positive that we can move towards in rebuilding our 
business and to reestablish our customers' confidence to safely restore 
their goods in this area of Waterloo.
  ``I realize there are many horror stories of people's houses being 
lost along with all of their belongings. Our situation at Crystal 
Distribution in Waterloo, Iowa is one of many. Unfortunately, I have 
yet to see or hear of much, if any, real help to those who have been 
devastated. It appears that the business community has fallen between 
the cracks of red tape and inaction. Hopefully I have given you a 
decent, general description of what happened to us back in Iowa. I can 
only pray that some form of help will become available to assist us in 
our recovery from this overwhelming disaster.''
  Next I am going to read from Marvin and Darlene Young in Littleton, 
Iowa. ``I would like to say that I, like many others, went through a 
devastating flood in the summer of 2004. My wife

[[Page 19642]]

and I would like to just ask our U.S. Government to please take another 
look at trying to give us the help that we so desperately need. Not 
just us from 2004, but also help in allocating more funds for the 
buyout program and more funds for disaster relief to help recent 
victims.
  ``It has been 4 long years of hell, and these people were devastated 
by flooding 4 years ago.
  ``We were forced from our home via condemnation, and we were promised 
help would be coming. Yet we still have to pay property taxes and lot 
rent and had to incur debt by purchasing a new home. We have to keep 
telling people that we owe to please be patient and wait a little 
longer to be paid. We just feel that we have fell through the cracks, 
and no one cares, because the people who are in charge in Iowa and 
Buchanan counties can move on because it didn't happen to them.
  ``We have been to every government agency that we were told about 
that could help us, and all we keep getting is there are no funds 
available to help.
  ``What we cannot understand is how our government can be so apt to 
help out other countries around the world with money that they tell us 
our government does not have. We would like our Congress to please tell 
us where they keep getting this money to help them, but not us American 
people.
  ``Our son can sign up to defend this country, and recently was and 
currently is deployed, to put his life on the line for a government 
that can't help his parents in a time of such devastation. We have 
nowhere left to go to ask for help. The disaster of 2004 has put us so 
far into debt, we don't know what to do. It wouldn't be that big of a 
deal if we weren't told to leave our home and told to leave our 
belongings because it wasn't safe.
  ``However, the government agency, FEMA, which is running the 
operation, informed us not to worry because they were there to help. 
How were we to have faith in the systems that are set up to help the 
American people, when here we are, 4 years later, and in a bigger mess 
than we were due to the government agency running the operation. I hope 
you can put our concerns into serious consideration. I am sure that we 
are not the only ones out there.''
  The next letter is from Brenda Leonard, who is the emergency 
management coordinator in Jones County. When I was in Jones County 
during the peak of the flooding, I visited the communities of Stone 
City, Anamosa, the county seat, Monticello, Olin and Oxford Junction, 
all of which experienced record and overwhelming flooding.
  ``My name is Brenda Leonard, and I am the Jones County Emergency 
Management Coordinator in eastern Iowa. During the flooding in June, 
the cities of Anamosa, Monticello, Olin and Oxford Junction saw record 
levels of flooding on our two rivers, which cover over 90 miles. In 
fact, the Maquoketa River has risen out of its banks almost a dozen 
times this spring and summer.
  ``Our monitoring system for the river and creek levels involves one 
automated gauge and residents along the Wapsipinicon River. The 
Maquoketa River does not have a gauge in our county, so we have to rely 
on residents of the county to keep us updated as to the changing levels 
and rainfall amounts. We also rely on a network of volunteers and other 
counties upriver from us. Even with this information from the 
volunteers, there was no way we could have foreseen the amount of water 
we were inundated with.
  ``These record levels have caused great damages to three city 
wastewater plants, over 350 homes, 20 businesses, and ranked our 
secondary roads department as second in the State for damages. This is 
tremendous devastation in a county with a population of 20,221. I would 
also like to say that our residents have portrayed the great Midwest 
spirit by helping their neighbors for preparing for, fighting, and 
recovering from this monumental of event.''
  To show you the kind of county Jones County is, approximately 15 
percent of the residents of Jones County are veterans of our armed 
services who serve their country with great pride.
  The next letter is from Sarah Powell, a resident of New Hartford, 
Iowa, who had the double whammy of both the most powerful tornado in 
the United States this year, and a record flood in the span of 10 days, 
Sarah Powell.
  ``My biggest frustration with FEMA is that New Hartford was the first 
town to get hit by the flood and are now the last people to get taken 
care of. FEMA told me in the beginning, right after the disaster, that 
I would be put on an emergency housing list and asked if I was willing 
to travel. I told them `no,' that we needed to be placed in Butler, 
Grundy or Black Hawk counties.
  ``FEMA told us we would be put on a waiting list. They have called 
numerous times and have told us that we were still on the list, but had 
no trailer for us at this time. They called and asked if we wanted to 
move to Cedar Rapids, Marion or Linn County.''
  Just parenthetically, Cedar Rapids has 400 square blocks of 
devastation from epic levels of flooding in that community, the second 
largest city in Iowa.
  ``I told them `no,' we weren't able to travel that far. Why are there 
trailers and places to live in Cedar Rapids, but not available places 
here for the people that were affected by flooding first? It is now 
September, and I still do not have a place to live. I know that New 
Hartford is a small town and does not have as big of a population, but 
we were still affected by the disaster, and we are people in need of 
help and assistance. I am also frustrated that FEMA has denied us for 
most of help that I applied for because I had flood insurance. I have 
always been under the impression that FEMA is there to help people with 
their personal property because flood insurance does not cover personal 
property.
  ``FEMA has told me that I have been denied for assistance because of 
insurance. I lost my house and everything that I owned. FEMA would only 
allow me $5,000 for all of my personal property. My insurance company 
assessed our damage to be almost $40,000, and FEMA assessed damages to 
be only $18,000.
  ``How can there be that large of a difference between the two 
assessments? The people that had no flood insurance have been helped 
out more than the people that do have flood insurance. If FEMA is not 
going to be fair and willing to help those affected by the disasters, 
what are they for?
  This letter is from Jackie Heins, who is a resident of Waverly and 
runs the Kinetic Energy School of Movement & Music, a small business, 
located in Waverly.
  Jackie's business, Kinetic Energy School of Movement & Music, was hit 
hard by the recent flooding in Waverly. Her location is right off 
Bremer Avenue, less than a block from the river.
  When the flooding hit, Jackie's storefront was inundated. Jackie 
sustained not only severe damage to her dance floor, but the heating, 
cooling system and her electricity were both taken out for almost a 
month. Since the flood, Jackie has been working hard to get her 
business back and running. The dance floor had to be replaced, and some 
of her summer classes had to be cancelled.
  On September 2, classes were restarted. However the back of her store 
is still torn up and, as she put it, we still have a ways to go yet. 
When asked what would have been more helpful to her, as a small 
business owner hit by this disaster, she replied that she would have 
liked to have been given much more clear information about what exactly 
her options were right after the flood hit. ``Everyone tells you call 
FEMA, but unless you have a very specific question in mind, or already 
know exactly what you are planning to do next, FEMA only gives you 
general guidance.''
  The next letter is from Lorista Ambrose of Cedar Falls, Iowa. ``We 
lost two homes to the flood-nado (this is what we call it) in New 
Hartford, Iowa. First, the tornado, then the flood after we moved into 
town and rented a house. So we had two disasters. Not one.
  ``What we encountered with the FEMA process was inexcusable and way 
too complicated. I am going to walk you through our process, register

[[Page 19643]]

for FEMA and get a number. I understand that. Let them know if we got 
insurance money and how much.
  ``Then they sent me to register for SBA. I don't know why we would 
want a loan to pay ourselves back with interest. This was our tax money 
we paid in for things like this to help. But we did it.
  ``Can't get help from FEMA unless you were turned down for a loan 
(can't understand why that should matter.)
  ``Wait for inspections of tornado house by both agencies. SBA 
inspection was done right away. Eligible for a loan.
  ``Turned down for FEMA before inspection. We have been told the 
denial is always sent out. Appeal.
  ``FEMA inspector never came until after we went back into the FEMA 
office many times, still being told by FEMA we were eligible for help. 
They knew we had insurance money and how much.
  ``June 8--we were flooded out of the house we rented. We moved to a 
hotel.''
  This was after their house was destroyed in the tornado.
  ``Told by FEMA to register again for more damages because now we were 
in two disasters.
  ``Call FEMA to register again. The file is a complete mess now 
because FEMA process does not allow for two different addresses under 
one number, but we were made to do it that way anyway. Now every time 
we call, no one understands what we are talking about.''
  Because they were moved out by the tornado and then by the flood.
  ``FEMA wants to inspect the tornado house now, even though they 
haven't already told us why we are not eligible. Why?
  ``Still no money.
  ``Not eligible. We have been in two disasters, lost everything twice, 
and can't get help. Now a month has gone by.
  ``Rented house gets inspected and our address gets changed in our 
file.
  ``Got a check for $13,000. We don't know what it is for, no address 
on the letter for what it's about. We were told we were not eligible. 
Go to a FEMA office, ask for help, and they don't know what this is for 
either. Sent e-mail for a confirmation of what this was for. No answer.
  ``Call a FEMA office, and a supervisor was able to tell us they made 
a mistake and to send the check back. It was for the rented house. We 
did.
  ``We give free help to other countries with no strings. Why aren't we 
doing this for our own people? Why can't we get a grant for the 
difference between what our insurance pays and the cost to rebuild the 
same house? Why a loan? We give grants for the mating habits of a 
bullfrog, but not for a disaster. Insurance does not cover the full 
cost on a 40 year-old house. Building costs went up so much in a year 
because of gas, and we could not have foreseen this. Now more disasters 
will make it go up even more as supplies are needed to rebuild.
  ``From the American standpoint, FEMA is worthless. What in this 
process with FEMA is urgent or addresses an emergency? It took us 2 
months, countless letters and many hours at a FEMA office for no 
results. This needs to change.''
  This letter is from Tony Mendez in Buffalo, Iowa, which is south of 
the City of Davenport, the southernmost town in the First District of 
Iowa.
  ``My name is Tony Mendez. I am the proud owner of a local small 
business in Buffalo, Iowa, that has been a core institution of our town 
for decades. Clark's Landing Restaurant is our name, and providing a 
local gathering place for our community is our privilege.
  ``Clark's Landing rests on a location of historical significance. In 
1833, Captain Benjamin W. Clark, our restaurant's namesake, chose our 
site to erect a claim cabin to establish what is now known as Buffalo, 
Iowa. I have had the privilege of ownership since June 30, 1993.
  ``Since that time, we have battled the rising waters of the mighty 
Mississippi four times. With the extraordinary efforts of our 
community, we have survived these trials time and time again. I am 
often asked, after the water has receded, the cleanup and repairs have 
been made, and we welcome back our families and friends to our humble 
establishment: `Don't you ever get tired of it and just want to give 
up?'
  ``My answer is always an emphatic `no . . . ' I consider it a 
position of honor to be a guardian of what makes this country great. I 
will continue to protect one of our town's treasures and hope to pass 
on this time-honored position to my daughter, Mercedes, when she is 
ready.''
  This letter is from business owners Darin Beck, Aaron Schurman and 
Dale Folkers with Phantom EFX corporation in Cedar Falls Iowa.
  ``We are writing this letter regarding the catastrophic flooding that 
occurred in Iowa this year. Before discussing the economic impact upon 
the community as a whole, and our firm in particular, allow me 
introduce us.
  ``Genesis Communications, Inc., which does business as Phantom EFX, 
is an advanced technology company that develops, manufactures and 
markets video games in the family entertainment category.
  ``We are located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, employing 40 people. We have 
been in business for over years. During those 10 years we have seen and 
weathered many changes in the national, State and local economies, as 
well as our particular industry.

                              {time}  2045

  No single event has been as devastating as the flood of 2008. As the 
floodwaters rose, families and businesses scrambled to save what they 
could and get out of harm's way. In the city of Cedar Falls, volunteers 
flocked to sandbag around the clock. These efforts saved our vibrant 
downtown business district, but many families and businesses were not 
so fortunate. In the part of town we were located in, the waters was 
unrestrained, resulting in massive losses of homes and business.
  The loss to Phantom was over $1 million in inventory, furniture and 
fixtures. The real estate we occupied, valued at over $1.7 million was 
a total loss. The true loss due to business interruption is 
incalculable.
  The Federal Government's response has been too little, too late, and 
nearly nonexistent. It is time for our government to step in to help, 
protect and defend its citizens.
  Last Monday, as I mentioned earlier, I was pleased to have Speaker 
Pelosi visit Iowa to see firsthand the devastation caused by the floods 
and tornadoes. She visited Parkersburg, New Hartford, Sinclair, which 
had its grain elevator destroyed, Cedar Falls, and Waterloo in the 1st 
Congressional District. And you saw earlier the images of devastation 
in those communities.
  Speaker Pelosi stressed her commitment to passing additional disaster 
relief, and I will keep working to ensure this funding is passed.
  Speaker Pelosi also joined my calls for the President to decrease the 
Federal/State cost-share agreement for Iowa's disaster recovery 
efforts. And I am happy to report that after our collective urging last 
week, FEMA changed the Federal/State cost-sharing agreement to 90 
percent Federal, 10 percent State funding.
  Last week, I also joined the entire Iowa congressional delegation to 
urge President Bush to file a formal disaster request for funding for 
Iowa. I am continuing to push the administration and the FEMA 
bureaucracy to quickly release all of the funding that we have already 
secured for the State of Iowa, and I am hopeful that FEMA will release 
the first $85 million in the next week, and I want to continue to push 
HUD to release the other $200 million as soon as possible.
  Hundreds of millions of dollar that Congress already passed for Iowa 
is being held up by the administration instead of being used to help 
rebuild Iowa. I am going to continue fighting to cut through the 
bureaucratic red tape and ensure that Iowa quickly receives the funding 
that Congress has already passed. Iowa needs more Federal help now, and 
I am going to continue working with Speaker Pelosi and the entire Iowa 
delegation to provide more disaster relief for Iowa.

[[Page 19644]]

  In addition to the $2.65 billion flood relief package that has 
already been passed, we need to pass a second emergency flood relief 
bill. We have been working on that and need to get it out on the floor 
next week.
  I have also worked with my colleague, Congressman Dave Loebsack from 
Iowa's 1st Congressional District, to help Iowa railroads repair and 
rebuild bridges that were destroyed, and that bill is called the Back 
on Track Act. You saw the photograph of the railroad bridge that 
collapsed in downtown Waterloo. And as I mentioned earlier, the 
economic impact of those collapsed bridges is enormous.
  We also need to continue pushing for FEMA to take a greater share of 
disaster relief with the delegation pushing the President to have the 
Federal Government assume 100 percent of the cost of the disaster 
relief to lessen the burden on Iowans.
  In the wake of the flooding disaster, I traveled to dozens of towns 
and inspected the flooding to check on the folks that I represent and 
see if they had their immediate needs met. In that time I visited the 
communities of Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Evansdale, Gilbertville, La Porte 
City, New Hartford, Waverly, Greene, Shell Rock, Clarksville, 
Independence, Elkador, Anamosa, Olin, Oxford Junction, Stone City, 
Clermont, Davenport, Buffalo and more.
  In addition, we met with the director of FEMA, the governor, both 
senators, the acting administrator of the Small Business Administration 
to address these needs, but acting in Congress will not get funds to 
the people who need it in Iowa unless administration officials do their 
jobs and start freeing up money that needs to get in the hands of the 
people who need it.
  To give you some idea of what I am talking about, in FEMA alone as 
part of that $2.65 billion package we passed in June, $897 million in 
FEMA disaster relief funding was allocated. On July 1, 2008, FEMA's 
disaster relief fund had a total of almost $4 billion in undistributed 
funds. That's the most recent disaster relief report available from 
FEMA.
  As of right now, FEMA has only given away a little over $500 million 
to Iowa and has in its possession billions of dollars of undistributed 
disaster relief funds which need to get to the people in need, in 
addition to the new people in crisis in the gulf coast.
  Now let's talk about the Community Development Block Grant. Of that 
$2.65 billion package in June, $300 million was allocated for CDBG 
funding, and the importance of that is it gets it into the hands of 
local officials who can target and set up criteria to make the most 
direct impact in their communities. None of that $300 million in CDBG 
funding that we passed more than 2 months ago is currently in the hands 
of Iowans in crisis.
  Then let's talk about the Economic Development Administration also 
known as the EDA. Of that $2.65 billion package, nearly $100 million 
was allocated for EDA funding, and none of that $100 million in funding 
passed 2 months ago is currently in the hands of Iowans in need.
  In addition there may be additional delays with the distribution of 
other funds in that $2.6 billion package, including $606 million for 
the Army Corps of Engineers, $267 million for the Small Business 
Administration disaster loans, and $480 million for agricultural 
assistance. And until the crop harvest is completed and we know the 
true extent of the impact on agriculture in Iowa and other midwestern 
States, the extent of those damages is unknown.
  But we do know this: the disaster season in the United States 
continues. And as we continue as a Federal Government to respond to the 
needs of U.S. citizens in crisis, it is incumbent upon every Member of 
Congress, no matter where they live, to recognize the fact that we are 
at our best when we respond to these needs with the heartfelt response 
that Americans expect in their time of crisis. That's why I call upon 
the Speaker, Minority Leader Boehner and every Member of this body to 
come together next week in the spirit of harmony and the spirit of 
goodwill to do what is necessary to address the needs of Iowans who 
have felt the brunt of this disaster in ways they have never felt 
before, the needs of other people in the midwest, the southeast, the 
southwest and the gulf coast, to respond to them and make sure that 
their needs are being addressed so they finally have faith that their 
Federal Government is there for them when they need it.

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